Born to Rock

CASSAUNDRA BABER

Wednesday

Feb 27, 2008 at 12:01 AMFeb 27, 2008 at 2:31 AM

Today, Dave Snediker, Bob Cirillo and Jose Lopez are local musicians known for their fresh beats, solid vocals and musicianship, but were there signs of their future careers evident even when they were young?

Before Dave Snediker was winning a SAMMY, he was rocking so hard with his high school band Crossfire, he sent his parents’ ceiling crashing to the floor.

Before Bob Cirillo became local rapper B-Cide, he was a curly-haired 5-year-old singing Italian arias and strumming a guitar made from a milk jug.

Dave Snediker
* On stage: Singer, songwriter, musician
* Online: www.myspace.com/sned or snedhead.com
Before Jose Lopez was jamming with The Next, Big Krush and Showtime, he was an awe-struck toddler sitting on his father’s knee as Dad played the drums with his band.
Today, these local musicians are known for their fresh beats, solid vocals and musicianship, but were there signs of their future careers evident even when they were young?

As their mamas will tell you, half notes and quarter notes were coursing through these boys’ veins well before they were old enough to read the music they were playing.

“Very early he wanted to play drums — in second grade,” said Dave Snediker’s mother, Neta.

‘The cop son with the long hair’
For the conservative Snedikers, Dave’s interest in music presented a challenge. Dad was a cop who was unsure about long-haired musicians.

“We were kind of straight-road, and he wasn’t straight-road,” Neta said. “I knew as he grew up he wouldn’t be at a desk.”

Gradually, however, Dave’s father learned to give up his preconceived notions about rock bands. Likewise, Neta understood the need to embrace her son’s interest in music.

“We had to keep him in school and away from drugs, and you didn’t want it to be a garage band drinking beer and stuff,” she said. “So, we had to treat it seriously. We bought a station wagon for all his equipment; we had to fix a lot of food for the boys that came over to practice. We had a lot of noise.”

At the time, Dave didn’t realize his music made him stand out from the family.

“I was just going on my way doing my music – the cop son with the long hair,” he said. “You just are who you are.”

‘Playing like nobody’s business’
Gloria Burdick, mother of Jose Lopez, remembers the first time she really understood who her son was – and that was music.

“It was phenomenal how fast it happened,” she said. “He bought that bass guitar, and all of a sudden he’s just playing the bass like nobody’s business. The next thing, he’s the lead in the (high school musical) ‘The Sound of Music.’ I was thinking to myself: ‘This is like a dream come true to have one of my kids doing this.’”

Before long, he was playing various gigs throughout the region with his band 3pe0at, always making mom cry – no matter what the song. She vividly remembers her reaction during the first gig her 15-year-old son played.

“I’m crying because I can’t believe what’s coming out of these kids. When they played ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ I lost it,” she said. “They blew me away.”

‘The beat of his own drummer’
Claudia Cardillo can’t remember a time when her son Bob wasn’t “dancing to the beat of his own drummer,” she said.

“Anything he could pretend would be a microphone or guitar, that was Bobby,” she said. “He wasn’t more than 2½ or 3½ years old, and he’d be dancing around singing Italian. That was Bobby ever since I can remember.”

It was in her son’s teenage years that Claudia realized her son had serious musical ambitions. In 1998, he sound-proofed a closet with foam mattress pads and began recording music with friends, she said.

“He did everything through the computer,” she said. He was very much an entrepreneur.”

Bob released his first album in 2001 – just after graduating from high school.

Like the other mothers, Claudia realizes her son’s musical ambitions may be stifled in this area, but she’s confident his talent will bring him to bigger places.

“Every time he records a song, I say this is it, this is the one that’s going to make him big,” she said. “I think he’s going to make something out of this.”

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